


Failure

by icandrawamoth



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Guilt, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Introspection, M/M, Short, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 02:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17993009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icandrawamoth/pseuds/icandrawamoth
Summary: Ton hadn't been able to save Face.





	Failure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ikarus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikarus/gifts).



> For ikarus, who discussed this delightful roleswap with me then asked to see it written. 3:)

_I should have been able to save him._

It's all Ton can think, numbly, over and over, as he flies away from gods-forsaken Halmad and back toward Hawk-bat Base. Face's pallid skin fills his mind's eye, visions of the way his hands had trembled and clenched even as he tried to hide how much pain he was in.

Internal injuries, internal bleeding. Things Ton could have healed if he had the right equipment, the right surroundings. Better skills. If he'd tried harder.

He drags in a breath, trying to focus on the stars outside his cockpit instead of the awful images he already knows will never leave him.

But he hadn't saved Face. Face, his best friend, the man he – no, he can't think that. He's gone. All of that is dead and over. A good man, someone who could have effected real change in the universe, gone a long way toward finishing this damn war. He slipped through Ton's fingers, and Ton just let him.

What's the point of even returning to the Wraiths now? Alone. A failure.

But Face had made him promise. His quiet, raspy voice echoes in Ton's mind as he squeezes his eye shut against tears. _No matter what happens to me, you're going to keep living. Promise me._ And Ton had, and he can't go back on that.

He blinks his eyes clear as Hawk-bat Base comes into view. He's alone. He's alive. And he's going to stay that way as long as he can.

That doesn't mean he's going to like it.


End file.
